By Oduwaiye Fela
The
Lagos State Police Command has apprehended a 32-year-old convict,
Kingsley Chibuzor, for snatching over 20 cars between 2011 and 2013. Chibuzor was said to have escaped few
months into his sentence from the Kirikiri Medium Prison in 2011, where
he was serving a term for malicious damage. After his escape, the suspect was said
to have specialised in snatching cars in Lagos, Anambra and Ebonyi
states but met his waterloo when he was arrested by the operatives of
the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lagos. He was arrested alongside two members of his gang; Ozoemena Enebeli and Prince Nwafor. Chibuzor said, “I was arrested and sent
to prison for malicious damage. My prison sentence was supposed to be
for three years but I spent only some months there. One day, around 4am,
I told a prison official to help me get kerosene and he left the door
to our prison open.
“I was able to sneak into a particular
area of the building and jumped over the fence. The area was dark and
nobody saw me. From there, I trekked to Ojo Barracks to visit my mother
but when she asked how I left prison, I did not answer her.” The father of four said he relocated to
Imo State for about six months so as to evade prison officials and
policemen, who were on his trail. He however said he returned to Lagos soon after because he could not survive in the village. He said, “I became a commercial bus
driver and every day, I delivered N5,000 to my boss while I made about
N1,500. Sometimes, I also operated heavy duty equipment at my free time
and I was paid for it. “The money was not enough to sustain my
family. I met Ozo (Enebeli) at a beer parlour in Mile 2 on a particular
day. We became close friends because we spoke the same language and we
decided to become armed robbers. I ‘organised’ N40,000 and bought two
guns from Benin Republic.
“Our first operation was at Surulere in
Lagos. A man was about to enter into his compound and we snatched his
Toyota Camry 2000 model from him and we sold it for N200, 000.” Chibuzor told PUNCH Metro that he never killed any of his victims but only snatched their cars from them after which he would sell them cheap. He said he continued to work as a bus driver but only robbed whenever he was broke. “We snatched a Toyota Highlander jeep as
the owner was returning from a beer parlour in Asaba. We sold it at
N400,000 even though its value was over N1m. We snatched a Toyota Camry
in Onistha, Anambra, and a RAV 4 jeep at the Igando area of Lagos. We
sold the RAV 4 for N150,000.
“While transporting the Highlander to
one of our associates in Ebonyi, we saw a Toyota FJ Cruiser and we
snatched the vehicle from its owner. The vehicle is worth over N3m but
we sold it for N500,000,” Chibuzor recalled.The suspect was however arrested at the
Igando area of Lagos while he was attempting to snatch another vehicle
and meet with a buyer.
Through his arrest, the police were able to apprehend Enebeli, who was in Ghana. Enebeli, in his defence, said he had
given up robbery and had relocated to Ghana but was lured back to the
country for one more robbery operation. He said, “I am into computer graphics
but I lost my job in 2010; that was when I met with Chibuzor. We carried
out many robbery operations but we never killed anyone. We never even
kidnapped. “One day in Igando, a man left the key
in his ignition and wanted to open the gate to his house when Chibuzor
and I quickly jumped in and drove off. It was later that we realised
that the man’s girlfriend was even in the vehicle. “But we did not attack her; we let her
go because we are not bad boys. I had even given up robbery and had
settled in Ghana where I was living well and was even sending money to
my wife and children. I was only tempted to come for one more
operation.”
The Police Public Relations Officer of
the state command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the incident to our
correspondent on the telephone, adding that the matter would soon be
charged to court.
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